Transparency Needed With The Oshawa Public Library

Oshawa This Week

What is going on with the Oshawa Public Library board these
days? When you receive close to $8.5 million dollars from the city in which you
operate in and one of the councilors writes to you, common sense says you
address their concerns. What did the OPL do with such a letter sent to them by
councilor Amy England? They received it for information.

The issue seems to be the frequency of the in-camera
meetings which when asked about, have gone unanswered. There also seems to be
concern over an OPL trustee who has suggested the board has found over $1
million in waste, yet nothing on this can be found in public records. In a
message sent to a citizen of Oshawa in which the citizen told the OPL trustee
that this message will not be confidential, the trustee stated that the board
was ready to act and there wouldn’t be any broad changes in the budget. It is
clear in my opinion that discussions took place amongst board members in-camera
on how to act on a report.

Since when can you discuss or make decisions in-camera if
you are there simply there to educate yourself?

Below is a letter sent to the OPL from councilor Amy
England, which was received for information, otherwise known as toss it in the
garbage.

Dear Mr. Hackford and members of the
Board

I am writing you this letter to address
some comments and questions I have as to how the Oshawa Public Library Board
operates.I was hoping to speak as a
delegation; however because of the time change of the meeting I am unable to

attend on December 20th.

After going through the past minutes, I
have noticed unclear reasons for why an item should be confidential. I have
also done some research by calling other Library Boards across Durham Region
and reviewing their minutes.However
most of these boards rarely go into in-camera.

While doing my research I also read the
Public Libraries Act.It appears there
is clear legislation on how and why an item could be considered in-camera.According to Closed Meetings; section (4) a
meeting or part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter
being considered is,

(a) the security of the property of the
board;

(b) personal matters about an
identifiable individual;

(c) a proposed or pending acquisition or
disposition of land by the board;

(d) labour relations or employee
negotiations;

(e) litigation or potential litigation,
including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the board;

(f) advice that is subject to
solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that
purpose;

(g) a matter in respect of which a board
or committee of a board may hold a closed meeting under another Act. 2002, c.
17, Sched. C, s. 24 (5).

Also under Resolutions, Section (6)
before holding a meeting or part of a meeting that is to be closed to the
public, a board or committee of the board shall state by resolution,

(a) the fact of the holding of the closed
meeting; and

(b) the general nature of the matter to
be considered at the closed meeting. 2002, c. 17, Sched. C, s. 24 (5).

Using these excerpts from the Act I have
a few questions.Below are some examples
of motions that are unclear when the board moved in-camera.

On October 16, 2012,the board held a
special meeting to consider a Confidential Report of the Operational and
Process Review Ad-Hoc Committee. And the
motion was worded as follows " That the Oshawa Public Library moved
in-camera to discuss the Confidential Report" Using section (4) of the
Public Libraries Acts under what circumstances from (a) through (g) did this
report fall under?Also under section
(6) this motion does not clearly state the fact of holding the closed meeting
or the general nature of the matter to be considered.And when the committee rose from in-camera
there is no clear decision.What
happened to the Confidential Report of the Operational and Process Review
Ad-Hoc Committee? Was it voted on in-camera, was it received for information,
was it endorsed..etc?

Another example is from the April 19th
meeting.A motion was moved "That
Oshawa Public Library Board move in-camera to discuss a confidential
matter" Again under section (4) of closed meetings, what reason under (a)
through (g) did the board move in-camera?And how does this motion comply with section (6) by stating the reason
and general nature to go in-camera?

Another item at the April 19th meeting
listed an item Leadership by Design.It
stated that the item would be discussed after the adjournment of the regular

board meeting.Why was an item on the agenda but not
discussed until after the board meeting adjourned?And how many board members were in
attendance?

In addition to the examples raised above.
I also requested the budget a few weeks ago.It was suggested that the item would not be available until after the
budget was approved, as it was confidential.After I questioned why a public document dealing with public money was
confidential, the budget was sent to me.However, it was still labeled confidential.When I asked why it was labeled confidential,
I was told that the board was having difficulties determining what is
considered confidential.And I was
correct that the budget was in fact a public document.After this response, coupled with some of the

Items I raised above.I am concerned about the level of
transparency and accountability this board shows the public.The Oshawa Public Library is an organization
that receives millions of dollars of taxpayers' money. I believe it is
important to provide as much information as possible to residents.Including items being discussed and
supporting materials.I also believe it
is important

to ensure the Library Board is adhering
to the Public Libraries Board act.

I raised my concerns with Councillor
Roger Bouma.He informed me that the
Library Board was looking at these concerns and working towards ways to resolve
the issues.

However after reviewing the minutes, it
unclear where these concerns were raised or how it will be addressed.

I am hoping the board can resolve the
issues I have raised.I am also
wondering if any further training is planned for the board in relation to their
roles, responsibilities? As it might be helpful to include a session on
confidential

items and minute taking.

It is important that the answers to my
questions are part of the public record.So I am requesting that the board refer my questions to staff to obtain
a report for follow-up.I am also
requesting to be a delegate at the first meeting of the New Year to speak to
the board about these concerns.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas
and look forward to my questions being answered.